James Cromwell was arrested Thursday morning at the University of Wisconsin where the American Horror Story: Asylum star protested over claims that the school tortures cats, TMZ.com reports.Cromwell, as well as PETA spokesman Jeremy Beckham, disrupted a UW System Board ...

Cromwell, as well as PETA spokesman Jeremy Beckham, disrupted a UW System Board of Regents meeting, causing a disturbance as they shouted and held up signs that showed a cat that allegedly came from the UW-Madison lab with metal implanted in its head. The school denies PETA's accusations that 30 cats a year have been starved, deafened and decapitated for brain research.

Shortly after, police dragged out Beckham, while Cromwell was escorted out in handcuffs. A UW spokesperson said both were arrested and expected to be charged with disorderly conduct.

"Today's events are just another attempt by outside activists to draw attention to the cause," the director of the UW-Madison Research Animal Resources Center said in a statement. "They have attacked and distorted this research - which has very real benefits for people who are deaf - from every angle imaginable. Exhaustive independent investigation by the USDA, which regulates the use of animals in research, concluded that PETA's allegations are baseless."